The Difference Between Innocence and Experience in Poetry

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The Difference Between Innocence and Experience in Poetry

"The idyllic world of Innocence is exposed as naÃve and foolish by the subversive cynicism of Experience." The world of Innocence is happy and loving, and can be compared to Arcadia and the Garden of Eden, the place of true innocence and lack of knowledge. However, Experience is actual reality of what living in the real world is actually like, where people have experienced the problems in the world. They are aware of these problems due to experience. However, the world of Innocence encompasses no such problems, and so Experience sees it as "naÃve and foolish", as it is not prepared for life. Whereas Innocence is all about the love of…show more content…

These, however, are discarded by Experience with poems, such as A Poison Tree and Infant Sorrow, which introduce the themes of sadness and revenge.

Innocence is often symbolised by happiness and this can be seen in The Introduction where the piper seems very happy as he is "piping down the valleys wild". He pipes his "songs of pleasant glee" when he sees a child, who is also happy, as shown with his laughter. The child is almost angelic as he is seen on a cloud and this vision of a child, represents the divine, as this is an angelic and heavenly vision of humans, which is only where the divine can be seen. The imagination for Blake is the divine and so this child is certainly a vision of an angel. Not only does the child represent innocence, but the piper then pipes "a song about a Lamb", lambs being both the Lamb of God and of innocence. Both these symbols of a lamb and child therefore represent both innocence and Jesus himself. General happiness and joy, is replaced by sadness and grief, while the unity of the divine and humans is replaced with a fear of God, as shown in The Little Girl Lost.

There are also many references to crying for joy, which can often be seen in the poems of Innocence, as it represents unadulterated happiness: "he wept to hearâ€¦he wept with joyâ€¦I stain'd the water clear." This seems to

William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, printed in 1794, “represents the world as it is envisioned by what he calls ‘two contrary states of the human soul’” (Greenblatt, 1452). This collection of poetry is accompanied by pictures, which create a mutually reliant relationship that allows for complete understanding of Blake’s works. “To read a Blake poem without the pictures is to miss something important: that relationship is an aspect of the poem’s argument” (1452). Overall, Blake’s works…

explores in-depth the relationship between innocence and experience in his work, Songs of Innocence and Experience and the resulting tension between these two contrasting states. Blake demonstrates those in a state of innocence are oblivious of that state, ignorant of any other state of consciousness. However, those aware of innocence cannot honestly envision it because their perceptions of reality have been colored by experience, which will stain their depictions of innocence as well. The subtitle underlining…

Language between the Chimney Sweeper from Songs of Innocence and Experience
Even though, a hundred and seventy nine years later, lying in his
grave, William Blake is still one of the best influences in poetry and
even daily life today. Blake’s work, unrecognised during his lifetime,
but now is almost universally considered that of a genius. Northrop
Frye, who undertook a study of Blake’s entire opus, ‘What is in
proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the…

Summary of Authors’ perspectives
It neither is in black and white, nor is it entirely clear, but it is evident that the authors Kehily and Montgomery (2009) have a unique and difference perspective of innocence compared to the widely known perspective. These authors believe that innocence is not fundamentally innate, while being perceived as an innate aspect of an individual as a child growing up, specifically a woman. Rather, it is a perception by the outside that has nothing to do with her character…

Aesthetic differences between Chinese and Western Poetry
—critics on Xu Yuanchong’s Chinese poetry translation
1 Introduction
Nowadays in China, there are mainly two kinds of different opinions on translating classical Chinese poems. On one side, Xu Yuanzhong, as a representative，hold that classical Chinese poems should be translated in the form of poems(rhymed verse translation). Xu Yuanzhong put forward the Theory of Three Beauties and the Theory of Rivalry. On the other side, scholars such as…

view in Romantic poetry. A period of fifty years called Romantic period included the French Revolution, the American Revolution and wars of national independence in Europe. William Blake, one of well known Romantic poets, commented on his society by viewing it through the child’s eyes in the two sets of ‘Songs of innocence and of Experience’. It is said that ignorance is a blessing but not according to William Blake.
Blake has another meaning to ‘Innocence’; He refers innocence to ignorance. This…

Differences between male and female speech: Evidence from the Japanese experience
Cross-culturally, there are differences between male and female speech patterns, although these differences are not always the same across all nations. There are certain biological differences between males and females which produce differences in pitch and tone, regardless of national origin. The larger body size of males tends to produce a lower-pitched voice while females speak in a higher vocal register. However…

In To Kill A Mockingbird there are several reason why innocence becomes experience. Phys.com stated “Between ages 5 and 11, the researchers found, children become aware that many people believe stereotypes, including stereotypes about academic ability. When children become aware of these types of bias about their own racial or ethnic group, it can affect how they respond to everyday situations.” This shows that Scout and Jem are in a time of their lives when racism will take effect. Not only because…

Similarities and difference between male and female slave experience
---reading review of <<Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and a True Tale of Slavery>>
 Based on the writing of Harriet and John Jacobs, compare and contrast the experiences of male and female slaves.
 Similarities：
Harriet and John Jacobs described the arduous journey from slave society to liberty society.
The first similarity is that both of the novels are written by Negro slave. They described the cruel experience in southern…

something as simple as driving, this student appreciates the order we have here in America. He recalls instances from his high school years where driving to school from his house would take up to 40 minutes but walking would only take around 10. This difference in time, is in part due to the population of Lima which is around 8.473 million. 1 This student told me to look at Edwardsville, a small town with a small population. Then he told me to look at Lima, a small city with a large population. The…